


Watch the Birds Up There

by Dawn21Saber



Series: Sabre’s Archives of Wholesomeness [2]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Baby Varian, Gen, Inspired by Birds (the song), Mentions of Death, This is low key cute and sad but not in the angsty way, Ulla is a good mom™️, Varian is happy about birds and it’s adorable, comparison to birds, he’s five so I guess it’s more toddler Varian?, remember the animal lover Varian hc?, this is more of that but only slightly, very very brief religious mentions of the time era (1800s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn21Saber/pseuds/Dawn21Saber
Summary: Varian has disappeared, leaving a worried Ulla behind. She finds him and is pleasantly surprised by what she finds.
Relationships: Ulla & Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Series: Sabre’s Archives of Wholesomeness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940602
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	Watch the Birds Up There

**Author's Note:**

> I got obsessed with the song “Birds” again, the version Terrence sings and his voice is absolutely perfect!
> 
> And, suddenly, I remembered the hc for Varian being an animal lover once more cause it’s my absolute favorite! And so I made this with baby Varian/toddler Varian. Maybe I did litol Varian justice.
> 
> TW: brief mentions of death, religious mentions (Tangled is set in the 1800s so brief religious mentions of that era)

Ulla huffed as she folded her arms. She, Varian, and Quirin had been playing Hide and Seek for the past three hours. Ulla had successfully found Quirin within ten minutes but had yet to find Varian.

She looked everywhere: in the cabinets, the closets, under the beds, under tables, in his little lab she’d helped him set up, even in the fields outside. Yet nothing. Not a trace of her blue-striped baby boy.

Varian was always good at hiding, however, so it was no surprise she hadn’t found him yet. He was small and quiet, sneaky. He would often give her a scare when showing up in her lab unannounced because of how silent he was. But him being gone this long did worry her. No matter how long he hid, he couldn’t stand being away from them long. Usually, after about an hour or so of not being found, the toddler would often come crying to them, afraid they’d forgotten him or gotten lost or hurt. It would make Ulla’s heart ache seeing her son so worried for her and her husband.

Stepping our the door and out into the world, Ulla placed her hands on her hips. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the edge of the woodland. It could be possible he went in there... but also highly improbable as she and Quirin had both warned him –

She cut herself off. Oh, he was definitely in there. Sighing and feeling worry creep in, the mother straightened and began walking towards the woods with purpose. If someone or something had hurt her son, they were in for a rude awakening when she found them.

The woman crept into the woods, senses alert. She perked at every bird chip or rustle in the bushes. Every now and then, she would call Varian’s name, hoping beyond all hope to see a glimpse of his blue-streaked hair or big blue eyes or freckled face peering back at her. She was beginning to feel fear replace her worry as the time ticked by with no sign of her son. Not even a response to her calls.

Slowly beginning to panic, Ulla halted in her search. She took deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves but being unsuccessful. She couldn’t help it! She was the mother of one child, a son who would one day take over as Old Corona’s leader. And, given her slowly declining health, she wouldn’t get the chance to have another child before death came knocking at her door ready to lead her home, however grim that statement may be. Her son was the light of her life, a star shining through the darkness that may come in her life or Quirin’s. He lit up her days with his buck-toothed grins, his ramblings about alchemy, his joy shining through when he discovered something new.

Varian was her son and she didn’t know what she’d do if she lost him.

Feeling tears beginning to burn her eyes, Ulla quickly began calming herself down. She took in deep breaths and instead focused on the nature around her instead of her own thoughts. She placed her hands on either side of her face and wiped away the tears, letting her worry slide off and be replaced with the peace of the wilderness.

And that’s when she heard it. Giggling. Giggling from a young boy. _Joyful_ giggling and _ooh’s_ and _wow’s_.

Her heart flew in her chest. That was Varian’s laugh. That was her son’s voice and it wasn’t scared or hurt. It was joyful, full of wonder and love and amazement.

Wasting not a moment longer, Ulla began sprinting in the direction of her son’s laughs. She knew he was alright, but she needed to see him. Needed to see with her own eyes this was no trick of the mind. The worry of a mother kept her from tiring as she reached a clearing at a small lake.

There were a few trees scattered in the clearing and a particularly large oak near the water’s edge. She could hear a few squirrels barking angrily at her intrusion, but she was suddenly too overcome with joy to be worried about them. For her eyes had landed on the light of her life, eyes shining with wonder.

Varian was sitting at the base of the large oak tree, giggling as a few birds hopped around picking up grass seeds and playing in the leaves. A hummingbird twittered as it flew by the young boy, giving him a quick glance before zooming towards a few flowers nearby. A sparrow flew down from the oak tree, landing beside Varian’s leg. The boy’s eyes sparkled with awe as the brown bird titled its head at him, curious to this new creature in its habitat. Reaching his hand out ever so slowly, Varian placed a small finger on the bird’s head. He gently rubbed it, the bird still staring at him as his tweeted before flying off.

Ulla was awestruck. She’d never seen him interact with many animals in the village. He was intimidated by many of the larger animals like the cows and sheep, so he wouldn’t go near them unless he was with his mother or father. Although, there were moments when he would wonder off – never for long, but he’d always come back so chipper and rambling about something he’d seen. And more often than not, it was an animal or some herb he could use in his alchemy.

She was wondering if here is where he often disappeared to.

Ulla began approaching, boots crunching the fall leaves on the edge of the clearing before giving way to soft grass rustling under her feet. The birds heard her and flew off, disturbed by her intrusion.

Hearing the rustling of boots on grass, Varian looked up and spotted his mother. He grinned widely, showing one of his missing teeth.

”Momma!” he cheered as he got up and ran to her. He wrapped his little arms around her legs as that was as high as he could reach.

Ulla’s heart burst with joy. She bent down, the young boy unwrapping himself from her so she could kneel on her knees. The mother wrapped her arms around her son in a tight embrace of relief and gratefulness. She was so thankful he was okay and wasn’t hurt. She’d been so scared he had gotten lost or worse when, in fact, he’d been in this clearing.

After a short moment, Varian pulled away from the hug. He grinned one of his bucktoothed grins that lit up Ulla’s days before pointing to the sky. Ulla looked up and saw a flock of geese flying in the sky, honking away.

”I’ve been watching ‘em, Momma!” the toddler informed her excitedly. “The birds! Birds! Birds! Birds!” he exclaimed, repeating the words like he always did when excited. “The sparrows and the blue jays and the cardinals and-and-and –“

Ulla began laughing. “Whoa, whoa, Varian,” she said as she patted down his hair. She began fixing him up and wiping any dirt off his face. “Slow down.” She let the boy calm himself, his blue eyes still shining with barely contained excitement. “Now, what’s this about the birds?” She picked him up and set him on her knee.

Varian looked up as the geese disappeared overhead. He glanced back at the oak tree where he saw his sparrow friend in her nest. “Th-th-they’re so pretty!” he stuttered, a usual occurrence when his thoughts were running faster than his mouth. “And... smart, a-a-and r-r – “ he groaned in frustration at his inability to pronounce the word he was looking for.

”Resourceful?” Ulla offered, stroking her hand through his hair.

Varian lit up and nodded ecstatically. “Mhm! I like the birds!” he told her with a grin. “They’re free, too. They can do anything, go anywhere!” His eyes shone as he rambled, Ulla smiling as she continued stroking his hair. “They can fly, fly, fly!” he stuck his little arms out and flapped them. He tilted his head suddenly, lowering his arms and furrowing his brows.

The little boy, only five barely three days, turned his head to his mother and spoke a question.

”Will you be a bird, too, Momma?”

Ulla gave him a questioning look. “What do you mean, Varian?” she asked as she sat down and crossed her legs, readjusting her son so his back was against her stomach.

He twisted his little body around to look into her eyes again. “Will you be free? Like the birds,” he clarified. “Daddy said you were going somewhere soon... are you going to be a bird? Will you fly and make nests and tweet tweet?”

Ulla gave him a sorrowful smile. She knew what he was implying. Despite his intelligence, he was still only five and did not understand the concept of death. He was relating what he could with what he was given. She supposed he was right in a way. When she eventually left this life, she would indeed be free of the mortal restraints of the world, flying freely to the sky and towards Heaven.

Looking up into the blue sky dotted with puffy white clouds, Ulla gave a small sigh. She looked back down at her little boy, leaning down and planting an affectionate kiss on his forehead. “Y’know, Varian,” she began, listening to the tweeting of the birds, “I don’t know about being a bird, but...” she hugged Varian close.

”Someday I would like to fly.”

**Author's Note:**

> Litol Varian makes my heart go 🥺🥺🥺💙💚 because he’s adorable! This got a little sad towards the end but considering Ulla passed when Varian was young, it was bound to happen-
> 
> Anyways, this is a break from my normal angst cause anxiety said hey and now I’m turning to my comfort songs so any of my multi-chapter books (aka the Varitas one and the Varian, Catalina, and Angry one) will stay unupdated for a little while.
> 
> If there’s a sudden influx of wholesome one-shots and stuff, then you’ll know why XD cause while I do love my angst, I love a dash of fluff.


End file.
